Damaged Goods
by redsandman99
Summary: AU. Trish is a runaway who's new to living on the streets. Jeff is a junkie who will do anything to supply his habit. The two find each other and love starts to grow, but they soon learn that love isn't as easy as other people make it sound.
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes Trish wondered how life would have turned out if her father hadn't died. Would her parents still be happily married? Would she still be in the popular clique at school, happy and carefree, with the only worry being about boys? Somehow, she suspected the answer was yes. Life had been better when her dad had been alive. But a car jacker had taken him away in the prime of his life, and her life had gone to hell since then. Her mom had remarried just a year later, which was the beginning of the real hell. Stephen was a monster and he terrorized Trish and her mother every chance he could. Tonight was no exception. He had come home to find that the dinner was not exactly to his liking. That had set him off on a violent rampage that still hadn't ended.

"What the fuck are you doing over there?" Stephen yelled. He grabbed Trish by the hair and yanked her up to her feet. "Why are you crying over there like a little baby?"

"Leave me alone!" Trish screamed. She hated him so much that she could hardly stand even looking at him. "Mom!"

He smirked. "Mommy's not going to help you tonight Trish. I made damn sure of that."

Trish cried out in pain as his fist connected with her face. It felt like her jaw had been broken. She was pushed violently to the ground and he began raining kicks down on to her prone body. She covered herself up as much as she could until he walked away. Thinking that was the end of it, she started getting back up to her feet. That was when she saw he was only going to get his belt.

_Oh fuck, not this again_. She took off running upstairs to her room, even though every step killed her body. There was no way she was going to let him whip her with the belt again. She still had scars from the last time he had done it.

"Get back here you little bitch!" he shouted as she slammed her door shut. He could be heard storming up the stairs after her. "Get back here and take your medicine!"

Crying, she used her desk to barricade the door. But even that wasn't going to be enough in the long run. Even if he gave up for the night, he was still eventually going to make her pay for daring to run from his punishment. _Unless I'm not here to punish_, she thought to herself. If she left, then he couldn't hurt her anymore. She could finally get a break from him and not have to be scared of getting beat every time he came into the room.

Hurrying as fast as she could, she grabbed a duffel bag out of her closet and started throwing as much stuff as she could it in. She knew she really had nowhere to go. She had no friends or family that could help her. Hell, she didn't even have enough money to even get her own place. Odds were she was going to end up on the street, cold and hungry with no place to go. But that was better than staying here at home.

"Trish! You open that door right now or so help me God I will whip the skin off your back!" Stephen hollered.

Trish put on her jacket, threw her bag over her shoulder and stuffed all of her money in her pocket before climbing out the window. The night was extremely windy it smelled like it was going to rain soon. She ran as fast as she could, still not having any fucking clue where she was going or what she was going to do next. In her mind, as long as she wasn't home, everything else would somehow work out.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff leaned back against the building he was standing near. Tonight was a slow night for customers. He had only made a couple hundred bucks, which was nothing compared to what he usually managed to make on a nightly basis. It sucked because he needed the money really badly tonight. He needed to go to Hunter's and get some smack and then he had to eat something. It had been days since he had last eaten.

"Dude this sucks," Randy complained. He was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, smoking a cigarette. "All the fucking regulars are staying in tonight."

Shannon shook his head. "I bet the girls aren't having any trouble. They can get all the clients they want."

"Well we know Ashley's probably getting more customers than you are. She's prettier than you are." Randy threw his cigarette down and stomped on it. "I hope Mickie is making more money than I am because the rent is due and the landlord keeps breathing down my neck. I swear he's just looking for an excuse to evict us." He looked at Jeff. "Why haven't you been saying anything? Is your mouth still sore from that throat fucking Hawkins and Ryder gave you earlier?"

Jeff shook his head. "I just got nothing to say." He ran his hand through his hair. He hated working the streets, having sex with anybody that had money so he could feed his drug habit. But he didn't know what else to do with himself. He had dropped out of high school and he wasn't actually good at anything besides having sex and using drugs. He had tried working at the bar with Matt but that had failed miserably and then he had tried going into weapons dealing with Phil but that fell apart too.

"Dude, why can't we ever have girl customers?" Shannon asked. "We don't protest when Mickie and Ashley service guys. Why can't we have a shot at the opposite sex?"

"Because this city has way too many gigolos as it is," Randy reminded him. "Half the guys in our neighborhood work in that escort service at least part of the time. I man, getting fucked in the ass really sucks but it pays better because we're harder to come by."

Jeff tapped Shannon on the shoulder. "There's one of your regulars. What's his name again?"

"Glenn," Shannon answered. He didn't sound particularly excited. "I think after this one I'm calling it a night."

Almost as soon as Shannon left, a car pulled up in front of Randy and Jeff. Randy went over to the driver and talked to him for a minute before getting into the car. That left Jeff all alone. But he didn't stay that way for long.

"Oh Hardy boy. What are you doing out here all alone Hardy boy?"

Jeff turned around to find Hunter approaching him. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to scrounge up some work."

Hunter grinned. "And how is that working out for you?"

"Not very well, thanks for asking."

Hunter's grin got bigger and he put his arm around Jeff's shoulder. "How about you come back to my place with me? I promise, I'll make it worth your while."

Jeff gulped. He knew Hunter had a bit of a reputation for being sick in the head. Even just getting the drugs from him made Jeff a bit nervous. But he was so desperate for a high right now that he was willing to do about anything. So, against his better judgment, he nodded his head. "Okay. Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

Hunter took Jeff to his house and locked the door behind them. That definitely did not put Jeff at ease. "What exactly do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Follow me," Hunter ordered. He led Jeff upstairs to his bedroom. "Sit," he said as he not so nicely pushed Jeff on to the bed. He walked over to his dresser and grabbed two baggies of smack. "This is what you want, isn't it?"

Jeff nodded. What he really wanted to do was grab the baggies and just get out of there. But he knew not to fuck with Hunter, so he didn't.

Hunter grinned. "What does your dear older brother say about your activities? Does he know all those dirty things you do?" He tossed the baggies back on to the dresser and slowly advanced on Jeff. "Does he know how you let yourself get fucked by men in the dirty alleys? Does he know how many dicks you suck a night?" He tucked a strand of Jeff's hair behind his ear. "Matt was just like you once upon a time. He did anything to get the money for a fix. But he wasn't as big as slut as you were. He didn't let himself get as low as you have. Even Shannon and Randy have standards. Of course, they're addicted to coke, not heroin. Chris and Adam's stuff isn't nearly as good as mine, is it?"

Jeff shivered. This soft, almost gentle tone made Hunter sound scarier than he usually did. "I--"

Hunter slapped him across the face. "Did I say you could speak?" He pulled Jeff up to his feet. "Clothes off right now."

Jeff quickly did what he was told. Once he was stripped completely naked, Hunter turned him around and handcuffed his hands behind his back. "You're such a pretty whore," Hunter whispered. "A pretty little whore who will do anything anybody asks of him. Do you like doing it? Do you like how all those men use you for their own needs?" He turned Jeff back on to the bed.

"I'm a whore, not a slut," Jeff informed him. "Sluts don't get paid."

That comment made Hunter chuckle. "Well if anyone knows what you are, it's you." He went over to the closet and grabbed a large cardboard box.

"What the hell is that for?" Jeff asked.

Hunter smirked. "It's where I keep my toys." He took out a blindfold and wrapped it around Jeff's eyes. "If you are a good little whore and let me have my way with you, I'll give you a little extra when it's time for me to pay up."

Jeff tried to suppress his whimpers. This was a stupid idea. Now not only was he handcuffed, which he hated, but now he couldn't see, which made it worse. It reminded him of when he was a kid. His dad used to handcuff him and throw a bag over his head so he couldn't see and then beat him within an inch of his life. And with Hunter as unpredictable as he was…no, he wouldn't do that. Hunter was fucked up in the head but he hadn't brought Jeff here to hurt him…or had he?"

Jeff squirmed as Hunter licked and sucked on his nipple until it was a painful little nub. But then something cold and metal was placed on it and he yelped in pain. His other nipple received he same treatment. "Hunter--"

"Relax," Hunter said smugly. "They're just nipple clamps. They're going to be the least of your problems."

"The least of my problems? What the hell does that--" Jeff's question was cut off by a gag getting shoved into his mouth. Now he couldn't even yell for help if Hunter took this too far. Fuck, what the hell was he going to do now? He shook his head as he heard Hunter rummaging around the box for something else. Why did he always get himself into these fucked up situations? Was he honestly as stupid as people thought he was? _Right now, I think the answer to that is yes._

"Now this might hurt a little," Hunter warned him.

Jeff let out a muffled scream as a scalding hot piece of metal was placed on his chest. Hurt a little? It fucking hurt a lot! But Hunter take that as a hint to take it off? Of course not. Hell, he went ahead and put one on Jeff's stomach while he was at it. Tears of pain filled his eyes and he started trying to scoot the hell away from Hunter.

"Fuck," Hunter muttered as the phone rang. "Hello? Hey Steph. You'll be home in a half hour. Okay hun. I'll see you then." He slammed the phone down. "Fuck! I didn't want that to happen. I guess we'll have to skip to the grand finale, won't we Jeff?"

Jeff could only answer with a muffled whimper. He was insanely glad Stephanie was on her way. He was seriously afraid of what else Hunter had on his mind to do if he could go uninterrupted.

Hunter shoved himself inside of Jeff with no warning or prep, but that was what Jeff was used to. It happened pretty much every single night of his life so he was used to it. But Hunter was much larger than his usual clientele, so every thrust hurt like hell. He made a few pain filled noises, which from the sound of it, satisfied Hunter's sick needs.

Finally, when he honestly thought it couldn't last much longer, Hunter came and undid the blindfold and the handcuffs. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked. He almost seemed like he was mocking Jeff. He handed Jeff his clothes and the smack. "I would let you clean up a little more but Steph will freak if she saw you here. You should have seen what she did to the last whore she caught me with. It was brutal."

Jeff got dressed and left without speaking or even looking at Hunter again. The burns the hot metal had caused hurt so bad that it was agony to even have his shirt on. He kept a tight hold of the smack and started heading to the first place he knew he could shoot up alone at: the men's bathroom at the park. Hopefully he could lose himself again in the high and forget that whole episode had ever happened. Honestly, it was the only thing he could even try to do about his situation. It wasn't like anyone else was going to come and help him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Trish had spent pretty much her entire life sheltered in the quiet residential part in the city. She had heard about how bad the rest of the city was, but she had never actually seen it before now. She was walking down streets filled with gang members, junkies, drug dealers, hookers and every other bad seed that existed. It frightened her because she could almost feel all the eyes turning towards her. She felt like a little lamb walking right into the slaughter. They seemed to know she was fresh meat and they were just waiting for the right time to strike.

She decided it was definitely time to get off the street and get inside somewhere. She walked to a nearby park and looked around. If worse came to worse, she could just sleep on the bench. Or maybe under it just to be a little safer. But then she saw the public restrooms and decided to head there. Was it sanitary? Hell no. But she was tired, scared, alone and she had no idea where she was going in the dark. She went into the first restroom she saw and found it empty. Satisfied that she would be safe for just a little while, she huddled up in the corner and closed her eyes. She just wanted a little rest. She was just going to rest for a little while.

But just seconds later, the door opened again, causing her to open her eyes. A rail thin guy with purple/red/bluish hair stumbled into the door, clutching the front of himself and collapsing right by the door. She sat there and stared at him for a moment. _So much for resting_ a voice in the back of her head said. "Are you okay?" she found herself asking. Hopefully, this guy wasn't like a crazy rapist or someone who wanted to rob her. That was the last thing she needed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you okay?"

It was that question that pulled Jeff out of the fog he was in. He lifted his head up enough to see a pretty blonde girl staring fearfully at him. He had no idea why she was sitting in a bathroom regularly used by junkies, but since she had already showed more concern about him than most of the other people he had met before, he liked her already. "I'm fine," he lied. He forced himself to sit up despite the protest his body was making. He pulled out the smack and the needle he always kept with him. He needed it so bad that his hands were shaking.

"Aren't you afraid you'll get caught here with that?" the girl asked.

Jeff didn't answer. He stuck the needle in his arm and shot up, sighing in relief as he did so. He knew the others thought his addiction was a sickness. Randy, Shannon, Ashley, Mickie, Matt, Amy--they all didn't get it. The only time he ever felt good was when he did the drugs. It made him forget that he was so broke that he spent half the time crashing with his friends or sleeping in empty churches. It made him forget he was starving half the time. It made him forget that he earned what little money he did have by getting fucked by guys when he wasn't even really gay.

The girl slowly approached him. "I'm Trish," she said.

He looked at her. "I'm Jeff. What are you doing in here?"

She shrugged. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Oh." He saw that she had a duffel bag with her. "Did you just run away or something?"

"Yeah."

It figured. She looked too innocent and sweet to have been out on the streets for long. He tried to stand back up but he decided to look and see the damage that had been done to his chest and stomach. The burns Hunter had caused looked pretty bad. They almost really looked like they were going to get infected or something.

"Oh God, who did that to you?" Trish asked.

"My drug dealer," Jeff muttered. He lowered his shirt back down. "It hurts really bad."

Trish stood up and then helped him up to his feet. "Come on," she said as she grabbed her bag. "I've got some money. Let's get you some burn ointment."

"I got money too," Jeff mumbled as he was led out of the bathroom. He could feel the drug starting to work and he enjoyed the rush that was starting to take him over. His skin felt so much warmer now and he was actually starting to feel a little dizzy. "I could pay if the world will stop spinning."

"It's fine," she told him as she led him into the nearby Walgreens. "I can take care of this."

Jeff could feel the one or two people that were working at this time of night staring at him and Trish like hawks. They probably thought they were going to steal something. He started reaching for something to slip into his pocket when Trish grabbed what they needed and then got them up to the cash register before he could get his hands on it. He found himself being pulled back outside, which was just fine with him. His limbs were starting to feel really heavy and he wasn't sure if he could move on his own.

"Here, sit down," Trish said. They were right out on the street corner but she didn't seem to care. She took the tube of ointment out of the box and put some of it on her finger tips. "I would warn you that this might hurt a little," she said as she lifted his shirt up. "But I don't think you're feeling much of anything right now, are you?"

Jeff grinned lazily. "Hunter's got good stuff. He's sick in the head, but he's got good stuff." He reached into his pocket and touched the remaining smack he had left. "I hope I can make this last. I don't want to go back too soon. He's got a lot of sick ideas."

Trish shook her head. "It sounds like you need to just find yourself a new dealer period."

"But I don't know any other dealers that sell smack," he said as she rubbed the ointment on his burns. He rubbed his eyes. "I wonder if Shannon's home yet. Shannon's apartment is closer."

"Do you live with Shannon?" Trish asked.

He shrugged. "Sometimes I stay with him, sometimes I stay with Randy or Phil. Matt wants him to live with him and Amy but I don't want to. He'll want me to quit using drugs and go to rehab and all that. I don't need help."

"Well can you get us to one of those places? I really don't want to stay out here at night. It kind of makes me nervous to stand out here all exposed and stuff."

"You'll get used to it." He stood back up and started stumbling towards Shannon's apartment building. It was a run down place filled with everyone ranging from single mothers, to artists to crack heads. The wooden stairs creaked as he and Trish climbed up to the top floor. Shannon's door was locked so he pounded on it until Ashley answered the door.

"Oh Jesus Jeff, are you all fucked up again?" she asked as she let him and Trish in.

"I'm good," Jeff said. He pointed at Trish. "She's Trish. She helped me."

"His drug dealer burned him," Trish told Ashley.

Ashley looked pissed. "Hunter hurt you? Son of a bitch! Jeff, I told you not to fuck around with him! Let me see what he did."

Jeff backed away from her until he fell backwards on to the mattress he crashed on every time he stayed there. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I'm fine, I don't feel anything I promise."

Shannon came out of his room. "What the fuck is going on?"

Jeff tuned out everyone as they began to talk about him. They acted like he wasn't even in the room so he pretended like he wasn't even there. He stared up at the ceiling and enjoyed the high that would end way too soon. He would crash and then he would feel bad until he took some more and started the process all over again. It was the vicious cycle that he didn't have the strength to break on his own. He was going to have to die if he was ever going to stop and honestly, he didn't quite care if he did die. At least then he could have some fucking peace for once in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

Trish wasn't quite sure what to make of Ashley and Shannon. They were nice enough to her but there was just something about them that made them seem strange to her. Maybe it was the hardness in their eyes or maybe it was the fact they seemed more exasperated by Jeff's state than downright worried. "Shouldn't we do something about him?" she finally asked. "He seems really bad right now."

Shannon just shrugged. "He's a junkie. He's almost always fucked up. If he ain't fucked up then he's looking to get fucked up. I don't like that he's on that shit but I can't really do anything about it. He just avoids everyone that tries to make him stop using."

Ashley took a drink of her beer. "So what's your story princess?"

Trish blinked. "What?"

"Let me take a guess before you answer. You're alcoholic step-father used your face as a punching bag for far too long and you decided running away was the only option."

Trish was shocked. "How did you--"

"Same thing happened to me four years ago," Ashley informed her. "I was fifteen at the time. My step dad came home every night and beat the shit out of me and my sister. Mom wouldn't do anything to stop it so I just took Nicole and ran." She snorted. "A lot of good it did though. I alternate between being a stripper and a hooker and Nicole was killed two years ago."

"She got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time," Shannon said before Trish could ask. "Drive by shootings happen a lot around here."

"Oh," Trish said. Drive by shootings? She had to worry about getting shot? Maybe she should have ran away to somewhere else. "Why do you alternate between being stripper and a hooker?"

Ashley grinned humorlessly. "Strip club owners are assholes. Hooking sucks but at least you're your own boss."

"Although that advantage doesn't make up for the other shit you've got to deal with," Shannon said. "I got to talk to Shawn about getting more hours down at the restaurant. I would rather spend eight hours a day, seven days a week washing dirty ass dishes than selling my ass for fifty bucks a fuck."

"Well call him in the morning," Ashley said. "He's usually a cool guy. I'm sure he'll help you out." She looked back at Jeff, who was still just laying on the mattress. "Should we call Matt and tell him Jeff's alright at least?"

"You can if you want to," Shannon told her. "The last time I did, Matt got mad at me for not stopping Jeff from using. I'm not listening to that lecture again." He stood up and looked at Trish. "You can crash on the couch if you want. It's not that comfortable but our beds aren't either so we're suffering right along with you."

"Thanks," Trish said. At least she didn't have to sleep out on the street tonight. Hopefully they would think about letting her stay longer than just tonight. Or maybe they would at least give her the address of somebody who would let her stay permanently. She took her stuff over to the couch and laid down on it. It was pretty uncomfortable but it wasn't the worst thing she had ever slept on. One time Stephen had made her sleep down in the basement for two days just for his own amusement. That had sucked much worse than this.

She managed to get a few hours of sleep before being woken up by a loud commotion. She opened her eyes and saw Shannon and Ashley trying to help a woman guide an injured man into the apartment.

"Jesus Mickie, what the hell happened to him?" Ashley asked.

Mickie shook her head. "I don't know. I found him all beat up like this on the street corner a couple blocks of way. You guys were closer than my place."

Shannon took the injured man's head in his hands. "Randy what happened? Come on, focus on me man."

"Nearly mugged," Randy mumbled. He seemed really out of it. "I wouldn't give up the money so they tried to beat it out of me. Got away though. I got away."

Mickie sighed. "Jesus baby, you're lucky they didn't pull a knife or a gun out on you."

Suddenly Jeff made a weird noise. He jumped off the mattress and tore off out of the living room he scared the crap out of everyone. A moment later they could all hear him puking.

"I'll take care of him," Trish said before anyone could say anything. She got off the couch and went off the direction he had gone in. She found him in the bathroom, puking his guts out in the toilet. She felt so bad for him. There was no explaining why she felt the urge to take care of him. She didn't even really know him. But despite that, she found herself holding on to his hair and rubbing his back like her mom used to do when she was sick as a kid.

He gagged and heaved a couple more times before moving away and resting his head against the wall. He was as pale as he could possibly get. "Fuck," he muttered. "I hate it when that happens."

She flushed the toilet for him and grabbed a washcloth. She got it wet and began wiping his face off with it. "Relax," she said as he flinched. "I'm not going to hurt you."

He stopped flinching but he didn't exactly relax. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied truthfully. "I just feel like it."

Ashley suddenly poked her head through the doorway uninvited. "Matt and Amy are here," she announced. She looked worried. "Matt ran into Hunter and Hunter started taunting Matt about what he did to you."

Jeff let out a low groan. "What did Matt do?"

"Well according to Amy, he broke Hunter's nose in about a million pieces. But now they're here and they want to talk to you."

Trish looked at Jeff, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. "This is bad?"

Jeff nodded. "It's bad. Ash, just tell him I snuck out a window or something. I don't want to talk to him."

"JEFFERY NERO HARDY, DON'T MAKE HER LIE FOR YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" Matt yelled.

"Matt calm down," Amy pleaded. "We've been over this. Yelling is not going to solve anything."

Jeff let out another groan. "Oh Jesus. Here we go again."


	5. Chapter 5

Jeff reluctantly got to his feet and slowly left the bathroom. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to have this confrontation with Matt. He was still fucked up and Matt was going to know it. Matt always knew it. Another fight was going to break out, which he hated. He hated fighting with Matt. He wished his older brother would just leave him alone and let him do what he wanted in peace.

Matt and Amy were waiting for him in the living room. "Oh Jeff," Amy said softly. She looked upset by his appearance. "You're thin as a rail honey. Haven't you been eating?"

"Of course he hasn't," Matt snapped before Jeff could say anything. He grabbed Jeff by the arm and looked at the track marks in disgust. "Is this all you do now?" he asked. "Do you just fucking shoot yourself up with that poison and not take care of yourself anymore?"

Jeff winced. "You're hurting me," he complained. "Let me go."

Matt didn't let go though. "Show me where he hurt you," he ordered. "Show me what Hunter did."

"I don't have to show you anything," Jeff snapped. He pulled his arm free from Matt and sat down on the couch. "What I let happen to me is my business, so fuck off and leave me alone."

Matt looked furious. "So you like what everyone does to you? Do you like being fucked by strange men? Do you like it when Hunter abuses you?"

"Dude, keep your voice down," Shannon said. "I'm not getting in trouble with the landlord just because you have a problem with what Jeff does."

Jeff stared up at his pissed off brother. "It's my life Matt. I can do what I want with it. Besides, you weren't a saint when you were a junkie."

"Yeah, but at least I wasn't a dirty fucking whore like you are!" Matt said angrily. He slapped Jeff across the face. "Would you please use a little fucking common sense? You are going to fucking DIE if you keep going like this. Do you understand me? You will die if you don't stop the drugs and the whoring. You could get a disease, you get killed by a crazy customer or you could just die from the drugs. I fucking don't want you to die Jeff."

"Well too bad, because I don't care," Jeff said. He stood up and got in Matt's face. "I don't care if I live or die. I've got nothing to live for anyway."

Matt punched Jeff right in the face, sending the younger man down to the ground.

"Matt!" Amy yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Don't fucking talk like that!" Matt told Jeff. He grabbed his younger brother by the arms and shook him as hard as he could. "Don't you ever fucking start talking like that, do you understand me?"

"Fuck you," Jeff snapped. His nose was bleeding but he didn't care. "Let go of me you asshole."

"I'm not letting you go until I'm sure we understand each other."

"Matt come on this is going to far," Ashley said.

"Leave me alone mother fucker!" Jeff screamed. He hated the way Matt was grabbing him right now. "I fucking hate you! I wish you had fucking died when Dad did!"

The entire apartment went silent. Matt looked shocked and hurt at first, but then he got a pissed off look on his face. He was the one who would have been in the car with their dad that day if their dad hadn't been running late. He would have died in that car crash too if their dad had picked him up from school like he was supposed to. "You would have liked that, wouldn't you?" Matt asked quietly. "It would have made your life so much easier to fuck up if you were all alone, wouldn't it? Well you know what? You remember when we were kids and Daddy told you that Mommy was supposed to get an abortion with you? You remember that? You remember when I told you that it wasn't true and he was just saying that to hurt you? I lied. She was going to get an abortion but she changed her mind. I wished she hadn't. She should have gotten rid of you and saved me the trouble of always cleaning up after you, you fucking ungrateful little shit." He let go of Jeff and started heading towards the door. "Go ahead and fucking die then Jeff. I'm done caring."

Jeff just laid on the floor as the door was slammed shut behind Matt. Everyone was looking at him but nobody was saying anything. Amy hadn't even gone after Matt. She just stood there, completely frozen by the things that had just transpired.

Randy finally broke the silence. "Happy Easter everybody," he said humorlessly. He limped over to Jeff and handed him a bottle of whiskey. Jeff took it and downed half of it in one gulp. It burned his throat and chest but he didn't care. It was hard to care about himself when he had been raised to believe that nobody really did care.

Trish sat down next to Jeff. She looked nervous and upset. "I don't know what to say," she finally said.

He shook his head. "Don't say anything then." He handed her the bottle of whiskey. "Just drink until you can't feel anything anymore. That's how I celebrate the holidays." He looked up at Amy. "Are you fucking happy now? He hates me and he doesn't care anymore. You'll have him all to yourself now. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Amy shook her head. "No. This wasn't what I wanted at all."

"Yeah right," he muttered. He put his hand over his eyes. He would just drink until he forgot about Matt. He would drink until the words his brother had said stopped replaying over and over again in his mind. And he would not cry. He would not cry over Matt. He refused to do it. Matt was an asshole. He wasn't worth getting upset about.

That's what Jeff told himself anyway. But he knew Matt's words would haunt him. They would haunt him and drive him over the edge, especially when he was sleeping. Jeff didn't rest when he was asleep. He was just haunted by memories of a dead mother, a distant older brother and of course Daddy. Dear old Daddy Hardy who's favorite past time was talking with his fist.

_And Matt wonders why I need to get fucked up and stay that way,_ Jeff thought bitterly. _He doesn't get it. He didn't have it as nearly as bad as I did_. Which was true. Gil had hated Jeff more than he hated Matt. He hated Jeff more for a lot of reasons, but it all really started getting much worse one day in particular. It was the day their mom had died. Their mom had killed herself and Gil blamed Jeff for some reason. He said it was because Jeff was useless and too much to handle. Jeff had only been nine yet he had somehow driven his mother to kill herself. He had believed it at the time and he still believed it now. She had killed herself on his own fucking birthday, so how could he not believe it?


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, it was decided by Ashley and Mickie that they needed to go down to the grocery store and buy some food. Trish was glad when that decision was made because she was extremely hungry. She wondered briefly if her mom had made breakfast or was too worried about her to eat, but she quickly pushed those thoughts from her mind. Her mom had let Stephen have free reign over their lives and she wasn't going to forgive her for that.

"Jeff, you know Matt didn't mean what he said last night," Shannon said as they walked to the store. None of them owned a car. "You just upset him when you said he wished he had died."

Jeff didn't say anything. He just hovered near Trish and kept his eyes locked on the ground as he walked. He hadn't said much of anything since last night. Trish linked arms with him as they entered the store. There was something so vulnerable and sweet about him that something in her wanted to take care of him.

"I don't want to be here," he said as they entered the store. He looked around at everyone and everything distrustfully. "I'm not even hungry. Why do I have to be here?"

"You still need to eat something," Trish told him. "You're thin as a rail."

"Am not," he muttered but he didn't put up much more of a fight. He let her lead him around the store as she and the others stocked up on food. She still had enough money to buy the stuff she was getting, but she was going to have to find a way to make more very soon. She wasn't really liking the idea of prostitution. It actually kind of scared her. She would rather take a job as a waitress or something like that. It wouldn't be the greatest job in the world, but she could handle it.

Once they got everything they needed, Mickie and Randy went off to their own apartment while the others went back to Shannon and Ashley's place. When they got there, Trish made two sandwiches. "Here, eat this," she said as she handed him one of the sandwiches.

He took it from her and began to eat it slowly. "Will people be looking for you?"

She shrugged and took a bite from her own sandwich. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know if they care enough to." She looked down. "I would like my mom to so I at least know if she cared but I can't live with her again. Not if she stays with Stephen."

"He's the one that hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"He's your dad?"

"Step dad. My dad died of cancer."

"Oh." Jeff finished his sandwich and pulled out the rest of his smack. "You want any?"

She shook her head. There was no way she was getting into that. It was a slippery slope that she knew she was screwed if she got on it. She watched him shoot up and then bury his face into his knees, which were pulled up towards his chest. "What are you going to do if you need more?"

He looked up at her. "What?"

"What are you going to do if you need more? You can't go back to Hunter after what he did to you."

"Why?"

"Because he hurt you," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. In her mind, it really was the most obvious point at the moment.

"Oh." Jeff bit his lip and then just shrugged. "Hunter's the only smack dealer I know. As long as I get my stuff, I can deal with what he wants."

Trish bit her lip. She didn't like the sound of that. She didn't want Jeff anywhere near Hunter. She had never met the man, but she knew he was bad news. He was just going to take advantage of Jeff's desperate needs for his own sick and twisted purposes.

Jeff suddenly looked upset. "You're mad at me."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"I'm just upset you're even thinking about going back to Hunter."

"Why? Why would you care about what I do?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just do."

He stared at her for a moment before looking down again. "Matt used to care about me but he stopped. Everybody stops caring."

"I'm not like everybody else," she told him. She took him by the hand and pulled him up to his feet. "Can we go up to the roof of this place?"

Jeff nodded. "If we go out the window and climb up the fire escape we can."

"Well come on then," she said eagerly. She pulled him through the living room, opened the window and stepped out on the fire escape. The people and the traffic below were making a lot of noise. The wind was blowing and it made her feel chilly, but that didn't stop her from helping him climb up on to the roof.

"Matt gets mad if he catches me climbing on things," Jeff said once they were on the roof. "He thinks I'm going to jump and kill myself."

"Well I'm not going to let you do that, so he won't have anything to worry about," Trish assured him.

His eyes darkened. "Matt doesn't care anymore, remember?"

She just shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "I should have grabbed a jacket. It's colder than I thought."

Jeff hesitated for a second before pulling her into his arms. "Body heat," he explained.

She grinned. "Very clever."

They just stared at each other for a moment before tentatively kissing. Trish's heart was pounding in her chest and her head felt all light headed. He seemed to have less of a clue of what he was doing than she did. She didn't know whether it was because he had never kissed a girl before or he just wasn't used to not having forced intimate contact with anyone. She remembered in _Pretty Woman_ that Julia Robert wouldn't kiss the people on the mouth. Maybe that rule really did apply to those people in real life.

"Mother fucker! Watch where you're driving!"

Jeff slowly broke the kiss. "Phil," he muttered.

Trish frowned. "Who?"

He led her over towards the edge of the roof and looked down at a guy trying to get across the street without getting killed. "Phil! You fucking moron! What are you trying to do?"

"Shut up you mother fucking junkie!" Phil yelled back. He got across the street and climbed up the fire escape so he could be on the roof too. "Don't be calling me a moron you mother fucker," he continued. "I'll knock your fucking head off."

"Moron," Jeff said defiantly.

Phil looked like he was going to hit Jeff but he stopped when he noticed Trish. "Well hello there. Who are you?"

"Trish."

Jeff made a whining noise and pulled Trish away from Phil. "My friend. You stay away."

Phil rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like she's going to want to stay friends with you when she gets to know you." He looked down at the street below. "Shannon home?"

Trish nodded. She already didn't really like this guy. He didn't treat Jeff very nicely.

"Sweet." Phil began to climb back down the fire escape so he could go through Shannon's window. "Oh and Jeff?"

"What?" Jeff said.

"I saw Matt last night. He's pretty upset about that argument you two had. He'll probably be stopping back to apologize soon."

Trish looked at Jeff once Phil was gone. "You're friends with him?"

Jeff shrugged. "He's just someone I know. He doesn't like putting up with me because he thinks I'm a mess." He sat down on the edge of the roof. "Hell, who am I kidding? I am a mess."

Trish sat down next to him. He sounded so pitiful right now that she could hardly stand it. She wanted to tell him he wasn't a mess to make him feel better, but there was no getting around that truth. So she just held his hand and hoped that her presence could offer him some sort of peace, even if it was just for a little while.


	7. Chapter 7

Shannon ended up going somewhere with Phil for awhile. That pissed Ashley off because she was convinced Phil was trying to get Shannon into the weapons dealing business. Jeff knew that while profitable, that business could be very, very dangerous if the deals went wrong. Phil had been shot numerous times for all sorts of reasons. It wasn't something that was just a walk in the park.

Matt did end up coming over about an hour later. Ashley pulled Trish out of the apartment so the two brothers could have their privacy. Jeff wished Trish hadn't left. He liked having her around. She was nice to him, which was something that didn't happen a whole lot. He fidgeted nervously as Matt sat down in the chair across from him. He really didn't want to be there right now. He just wanted to get up and run like there was no tomorrow. He and Matt had variations of the upcoming conversation many times before. They basically went the same way each time. Nothing ever changed, which was exactly the problem. Something had to change because neither of them could keep going through this cycle of their relationship over and over again.

"I'm sorry," Matt said. At least he really did sound sorry. That was a plus. "I shouldn't have said what I did. It was wrong for me to drag Mom into an argument. I know how much loved her."

Jeff shook his head. "She didn't love me. I knew that already. I should've known she had wanted to abort me."

Matt sighed. "Jeff, I never told you this, but she thought about aborting me too. Dad told me during a screaming match once. She had never wanted kids in the first place, but she didn't have the guts to get rid of us. Mom and Dad were two fucked up people who should have never had kids in their lifetime."

Jeff snorted. "You think?" He ran his hand through his hair. "They produced one former junkie who at least could pull his life back together and one current junkie who just doesn't give a shit."

"Don't talk like that," Matt pleaded. "Please Jeff, please give a shit. I don't know if you realize this, but there are people out there that care about you."

"Like who?" Jeff asked. "Who honestly cares besides you? Shannon, Ashley, Randy, Mickie--I mean, they might like me somewhat, but at this point, they're only putting up with me because they feel sorry for me. And sooner or later, that pity is going to run out and then who am I going to have? Huh? Answer me that?"

"Trish."

Jeff paused. There was Trish. He barely knew her but yet there was a connection there. It wasn't the kind of connection he could explain. It was just the kind that was there and it was so strong that he actually felt relatively okay when he was with her. With her, life didn't suck nearly as badly as it usually did.

Matt took advantage of Jeff's silence to try to plead to his younger brother. "I know Dad and Mom hurt you. I know I've hurt you without meaning to on a few occasions. I know that all that smack you do is your way of escaping. But Jeff, I've been down that road. It eventually stops being an escape and it becomes your prison. It took Amy to make me realize what I was really doing to myself. Now I really don't know Trish, but I can see that she needs you just by looking in her eyes. She's been hurt before and she needs somebody to take care of her. And she wants that somebody to be you Jeff. But if you want to be able to keep her, you're going to have to start taking care of yourself."

"What are you saying Matt?" Jeff asked, even though he already knew.

Matt sighed. "I'm saying that if you can't at least quit the drugs for yourself or for me, quit for Trish. She doesn't want you to die Jeff. I don't want you to die."

Jeff nodded along. He wasn't necessarily agreeing to quit but Matt had planted some ideas in his head. Matt had appealed to the small part of his mind that was so tired of being a fuck up. It was the part of his mind that had seen Matt rise above all the bullshit and became better. It wanted him to do it too but he was still too weak. He was too weak to give up his dependency to smack. _Maybe I can just start doing less of it_, he thought. _I can start doing less and less and just wean myself off of it._

After Matt left, Jeff decided to go for a walk. He had no real destination in mind. He just wandered around the city, passing the dozens of homeless people that were trying to get change in any way they could. Maybe Shannon and Ashley did just pity him, but at least they put a roof over his head. He had literally slept out on the streets before and it wasn't something he ever wanted to do again.

"Oh Jeffey! Oh Jeffey!"

Jeff turned around and saw Hunter coming towards him. "No," he groaned. He started to back away. "No go away. You're the last person I want to see right now. Please go away."

Hunter pretended to look sad. "Aw Jeff, don't you like me anymore? Aren't you interested in getting some good deals out of me?"

"Just stay away from me," Jeff said. He tried to run away but he ran right into a man he had wanted to see even less than Hunter. It was Mark Callaway, the leader of the local chapter of the Hells Angels. He was Hunter's supplier.

He was also an old friend of his dad's.

He was also his mom's step brother, who blamed Jeff for the reason she had killed herself all those years ago.

"Hello Jeff," Mark said evilly. "Long time no see."


	8. Chapter 8

Jeff stared at Mark fearfully. This was beyond bad. Mark was dangerous. Mark wanted to hurt him badly. The bastard had almost really got his hands on him about a year and a half ago but Matt had been around to save the day that time. But Matt wasn't here now. Nobody that could or would help him was around. He tried to back away but Hunter stopped him.

"Oh come on now Jeff, don't be scared," Hunter said. "Mark and I just want to talk to you. Don't you want to talk Jeffey?"

Mark just stared at Jeff with his cold eyes. "It's been a long time Hardy," he said quietly. "A real long time."

Jeff gulped. He knew that tone very well. His dad used to use it to. It meant he was about to get the shit kicked out of him. "What do you want Mark?" he asked. It was all he could do to keep from stuttering and stammering. He couldn't act as afraid as he really was or Mark would just get even worse.

"Hunter here told me what you let him do to you just to get your precious drugs," Mark informed him. "Now normally I don't give a shit how Hunter settles his payments as long as he pays me the money he owes me. But when I heard that he got interrupted with you, I decided you didn't pay nearly enough for what you ended up getting." He paused and smirked evilly. "Besides, I've been waiting to get my hands on you for a long, long time now."

Jeff tried to run. He really did. But Mark was quicker than he was, and the next thing he knew, he was being picked up and taken to an abandoned back alley. "Mark let me go!" he shouted, hoping to attract any kind of attention that could make this whole thing stop. "I'm serious! This isn't funny!"

"Good," Mark growled. "Because I wasn't joking around." He tossed Jeff to the ground and then he and Hunter started kicking and punching him as hard as they could. He did everything he could to cover himself up to stop some of the blows but they were like sharks that smelled blood. They were hitting him everywhere and they were hitting as hard as they could.

"Come on, get up," Hunter said. He pulled Jeff back up to his feet and held him so Mark could keep hitting him. One punch cracked a rib. Another broke his nose. One made his eye swell up on impact. Finally, Mark just grabbed Jeff by the hair and smashed his head against the side of the nearest building a few times before letting him drop down to the ground.

Jeff tried desperately to crawl away. His entire body hurt. He could hear Hunter laughing at him. Mark stepped on his back to stop his escape efforts, making him cry out pitifully. "Mark please," he begged, even though he knew it would be useless. Mark was loving what he was doing. He was loving every second of this torture.

"Does it hurt Jeff?" Mark asked. He grabbed Jeff by the hair and yanked him back up to his feet. "Answer me boy. Do you think you're in as much pain now as my lovely step-sister was every time she had to look at you?"

"Shut up," Jeff said. He already knew where Mark was going with this. "It wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything to her."

"Oh you didn't?" Mark asked. "Is that what Matt has been telling you? Let me ask you this Jeff: if you didn't make her completely miserable, why did she go and kill herself on your birthday?"

Hunter chuckled. "Your mom killed herself on your birthday? That's pretty harsh Hardy."

"Go fuck yourself Hunter!"

Mark grinned evilly. "Oh Hunter's going to fuck something alright, but it's not going to be himself."

Jeff froze. His eyes went as wide as they could go. Oh God, that couldn't mean what he thought that meant. "No," he said desperately. He tried even harder to get away. "No Mark please don't let him do that. Please, I'm begging you."

"Oh what's the matter Jeff?" Hunter asked as Mark handed the terrified younger man over. "You do this all the time as your job. This shouldn't be anything new to me."

"Hunter I'm serious, stop it!" Jeff yelled as he was slammed up against a wall again. He tried to fight as Hunter was attempting to unbuckle his pants. "Leave me alone!"

"Hey! What the hell is going on after here?"

Jeff, Mark and Hunter looked over and saw two cops coming towards them. This distracted Hunter and Mark long enough for Jeff to slip free and take off running as fast as he could. He had no idea how Mark and Hunter were going to get themselves out of that situation, and he didn't want to know. He just wanted to get as far away from them before they could turn their full attention back to him. It was by pure luck he got away this time. Next time…well…he doubted he would be lucky a third time when it came to Mark.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Trish grinned to herself as Ashley and her left Shawn's restaurant. She had just officially been hired as a waitress and she was scheduled to start tomorrow. That saved her from having to start stripping or hooking (for now anyways).

"You see, I told you that you would rock that interview," Ashley said. She put her arm around Trish and gave the younger girl a one armed hug. "You were nervous about absolutely nothing."

"It wasn't nothing," Trish said defensively. "That was my first job interview. I'm surprised I didn't blow it." She sighed. "Do you think Jeff's still back at your apartment?"

Ashley shrugged. "I don't know. It could depend on how his conversation with Matt went." She studied Trish carefully. "You like him, don't you?"

Trish blushed. "We kissed on the roof earlier."

Now back when Trish had all her old friends, this would have been the point they would have squealed and demanded details. But Ashley just looked worried. "Oh boy," she muttered.

"What?" Trish asked.

Ashley sighed. "Trish…Jeff's not exactly the type of person who's easy to love."

"What are you talking about? He's a total sweetheart."

"Oh he can be that. I'm not denying that. But he's a junkie. And junkies are hard to change. They may say they want to, but most of the time, they can't give up the junk. They love it more than anything else. And Jeff's a mess whether he's sober or fucked up. He's got a lot of baggage. I just want to make sure you realize that. You're in for a bumpy ride with him."

"TRISH! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Trish's eyes widened. "Oh shit." Stephen had stopped his car right in the middle of the road just to get out and come after her. "Run!" she yelled as she grabbed Ashley and started pulling her along. The two of them ran as fast as they could, blindly running into people and nearly tripping and falling several times. Stephen got back in his car and was trying to chase them down using that. Thinking quickly, she pulled Ashley into the nearby park that had no road to it. Up ahead she could see Jeff running from something too.

"Trish!" Jeff yelled. He nearly ran right into her. "What--"

"Go!" Trish screamed. "Just go!"

Ashley grabbed Jeff and the three of them just kept running. They ran into a street that was backed up because of a car crash. Trish could have sworn she heard Stephen yelling because he couldn't chase after her by car anymore. But she didn't take that as a meaning that they could stop. The three of them kept running until they were safely back into Ashley's apartment.

"Who the fuck was that?" Ashley asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"My stepfather," Trish replied. Now that she wasn't running for her life, she noticed that Jeff was actually really hurt. "Oh my God, what happened to you?"

"Mark and Hunter," Jeff said. He sank down to the floor and curled up in a ball. "They kept hitting me…Mark he said…Hunter tried…" His voice trailed off and he looked ready to cry.

Trish got down on the floor and pulled him into his arms. "Shhhh," she said as Ashley went to go get the first aid kit. "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." She didn't know that of course, but it seemed better to say than the actual truth.

Truth be told, maybe they wouldn't be okay. Maybe they were both fucked and it was only a matter of time before the past really caught up with them.


	9. Chapter 9

Jeff couldn't sleep that night. He tried to, but no matter what he did, he could not get comfortable. He was too sore and beat up to lay down the way he wanted to. So he got up and sat by the window. Shannon and Ashley were out so it was just him and Trish in the apartment. Trish was sleeping comfortably on the couch. She had been shaken up by the whole Stephen thing but she had bounced back quickly from it. He had only seen her on the street. He hadn't seen where she was staying and for all he knew, she could have left town. At least that's what she had said. Jeff wasn't sure if she had been trying to reassure him or herself. Either way, he was going to worry about it enough for the both of them.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bag of smack and his needle. He was starting to run low. There was enough for one more dose but that was it. If he wanted more, he would have to go back on the street and work for it. And if he managed to get enough money, he would have to either risk going back to Hunter or try to find a new dealer. None of those things sounded appealing to him though. He didn't know what to do. He was torn between ideas, helplessly floating in limbo, unable to grasp at what he truly wanted. He didn't like this feeling he had. It was making him think of everything that had happened to him throughout his life.

The abuse he had endured…his mother's suicide…the guilt…running away…selling his body for money…the drugs…the anticipation of finally dying and being able to have some peace--all these things were running through his head. He stepped out on to the fire escape and looked around. Homeless people were gathered around a trash can fire at the end of the block. Gang members were walking down the street, talking loudly and being obnoxious as possible. There were very few cars driving around this part of town at this time of night. It wasn't safe to be here. People died here all the time. Or if they didn't died, they disappeared into the helpless grind and drowned in their own helplessness until there was nothing left but a shell of the person they used to be.

Jeff stared at his needle for a long time before tossing it as far away as he could. He was about to do the same thing with the smack but he stopped himself. Just throwing it wouldn't be enough. He knew how he was. If he just tossed it, later on he would be convinced that he could go out and find it again. No, he had to do something a bit more permanent if he truly wanted to try to stop.

Trish began to stir as he came back in the window. He just stared at her for a moment. She had no reason to be with him. She had no reason to be nice to him. He always had the feeling part of the reason Matt kept putting up with him because they were brothers and he felt a sense of obligation. He knew Matt would deny that accusation, but he couldn't help but think it from time to time. But Trish had no reason to put up with him. He was a fucked up mess that didn't deserve the kindness she was showing him. Why she did it was a mystery. But he knew she would leave him if he didn't show him that he at least wanted to change. It was what had driven Phil away. It was what was driving Shannon, Mickie, Ashley and Randy away. Hell, it was really starting to take an even bigger toll on his relationship with Matt. He was tired of being a burden. He didn't want everyone to get tired of him and leave him all alone. He didn't think he could take that if that happened.

Trish opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hey," she said slowly. "What are you doing?"

He held up the bag of smack. "Something I should have done a long time ago." He walked off towards the bathroom. He could hear her getting up to follow him. Sighing, he switched on the bathroom light and dumped all the smack into the toilet. "God I'm going to regret this later," he muttered as he flushed it all away.

Trish put her hand on his shoulder. "Good for you," she said quietly.

Jeff snorted. "Yeah. Good for me. Let's have a parade." He sat down inside the tub and closed his eyes. Maybe he should have called Matt and asked him what withdrawal was like. _No, it's good that you didn't_, a voice in his head said. _You wouldn't be doing this if you knew what was coming next._

Trish sat down next to him. "Are you sure you don't need to get checked out by a doctor? Those guys fucked you up pretty badly."

"I've had worse," he muttered. That was the truth. His father used to beat him until he was unconscious half the time. And when he woke up, the beating would start all over again. Several times, he had nearly been beaten to death because his dad hadn't known when to stop. "I'll be fine. I'm more worried about the next time they find me."

"Do you think they will?" she asked.

He nodded. "I know they will. Mark hates me because he blames me for my mom's death. Hunter just likes screwing with people." He laughed bitterly. "Matt warned me about him. He told me to stay away but I didn't listen. I was so about getting the drugs that I didn't care what he was like. Now I'm just afraid of what he's going to do next."

Trish rested her head against him. "What if we left here?" she asked. "What if we raised some money and go somewhere they can't find you and Stephen can't find me?"

"Like where?" he asked.

"Anywhere. Everywhere. Does it matter?"

"I guess not," he admitted. He licked his lips and looked at her. A tension was starting to rise between them. It excited him and made him completely nervous at the same time. Trish had been the first girl he had ever actually kissed. He liked girls before her, but he was usually so shy and reclusive that he never had the guts to find out if any of them liked him back. Trish was the first girl he truly liked that he could have a manageable conversation with and not clam up. Or maybe he did clam up and she just put up with it. He didn't know anymore. Everything was so confusing that he was tired of keeping track of what was going on in his brain.

"Jeff," she said slowly. She sounded like she was nearly panting. "I've never really been with a lot of guys. I mean--I've dated before but we never…I never…"

He interrupted her with a kiss. It felt like the right thing to do. Just sitting with her felt right. He wanted to stay like this forever, even though Shannon and Ashley would be pissed because they couldn't take a shower. "Stay with me," he whispered. "Don't leave me."

She frowned. "Why would I leave you?"

"I don't know," he said. "Just promise me you'll stay."

"Of course I'll stay," she assured him. "I have no where else I'd rather be." She kissed him again and for a little while, for the first time in his life, he felt at peace with himself. And he found that it was the best feeling in the world.


	10. Chapter 10

Trish woke up to find that Jeff wasn't next to her anymore. She sat up, instantly worried. "Jeff?" she called out. "Jeff where are you?" She got up and turned on the light. He wasn't in the living room now. She immediately went back to the bathroom. It was there that she found Jeff curled up into the fetal position, sweating profusely and shaking like a leaf. It just about broke her heart to see him like that. "Oh honey," she said quietly. She grabbed a washrag and wet with cold water.

Jeff managed to just get to the toilet before he threw up violently. He just kept heaving over and over again, and Trish was afraid he was going to break in half; that was how hard he was getting sick.

"Trish," he finally managed to moan lowly.

"Shhh, I'm here," she told him. She held his hair back and gently wiped his face off. "It's going to be okay."

"It hurts," he whimpered. "Everything hurts."

She helped him get up to his feet and she led him back to the mattress in the living room. Shannon and Ashley were just finally getting back from wherever they had been. "What's going on?" Shannon asked. "What happened to Jeff?"

"Withdrawal," Trish explained.

Ashley's eyes widened. "Oh." She quickly started helping Trish get Jeff situated on the mattress.

"Please," Jeff whispered. "I can't do this. I need to call Hunter."

"Hush now, don't say that," Trish said. She hugged him tightly, even though he was still drenched with sweat. "You're going to feel better eventually. You just need to give it time."

"I don't want to give it time!" he snapped. He buried his face into his pillow and let out a muffled scream. Trish looked at Shannon and Ashley. They didn't look like they knew what to do.

"I'm going to call Matt," Shannon finally said. "He's been through withdrawal before. He'll know how to help him."

Trish nodded. She kissed Jeff's cheek gently. "It's going to be okay honey. Matt's going to come and help you get through this."

"Matt can't save me," Jeff whispered. He sounded like he was in so much pain. "Nobody can save me." He began to dig his fingernails into his arm so hard that he left bloody marks.

"Stop that," Ashley ordered. She grabbed Jeff's hands and made him stop hurting himself. "You need to stop. We're going to help you get through this, do you hear me? We're going to help you feel better."

Jeff just moaned and pulled his knees up to his chest. He seemed to be drifting off into a state where he was both conscious and unconscious at the same time. Trish just continued to hold him, hoping that she was providing any comfort at all. Ashley eventually got up and grabbed two wet rags so they could both try to help cool him down. Shannon just paced back and forth, obviously unsure of what he should be doing.

Matt and Amy arrived soon enough. "Hey Jeff," Matt said quietly. He took Ashley's place and placed his hand on his younger brother's head. "Can you hear me bro?"

"Matt," Jeff said hoarsely. "Help me. Call Hunter please…"

Matt looked back at Amy. "You know what to do."

Amy nodded and took the phone off the hook.

"What was that for?" Ashley asked as Amy hid the phone.

"We need to make sure he can't make contact with any dealers," Matt explained. "Eventually he's probably going to get angry at us and he'll try to get the drugs himself. We need to put away anything sharp he can use as a weapon and we're going to need at least one or two people watching him for awhile. Withdrawal's can sometimes get violent."

"Are you speaking from personal experience?" Trish asked before she could stop herself.

Matt nodded. "I nearly stabbed Phil's friend Kofi because they threw out the stash I thought was hidden in a secret place. The poor guy nearly died. I still feel bad to this day."

Trish bit her lip and smoothed down Jeff's hair. "He looks so sick," she said softly. "I just wish this part was over already."

Matt nodded. "I know what you mean. I can't stand seeing him like this. But he's got to go through it. It's the only way he's going to get better in the end."

Without even talking about it, both Trish and Matt each decided they were going to be the ones who would sit up with Jeff. The others offered to get up at some point during the night so the two of them could rest, but they both refused. They were both afraid that something would happen to Jeff if they took their eyes off of him, even for a second.

"So what's your story?" Matt asked after a couple of hours. Shannon and Ashley were catching some sleep and Amy was in the kitchen making lunch. "I know why and how everyone else ended up here. But I still don't know your story."

Trish sighed. "My dad died just over a year ago. It left my mom and I devastated. I was devastated because I lost my best friend. It devastated Mom because she didn't have anyone to take care of her anymore. She latched on to Stephen because he could provide for her and they got married just five months after Daddy's death." She sighed. It was hard talking about this. "I hated Stephen from the moment I met him. He's a complete and total pig. And then I quickly found out the hard way what an abusive pig he really is. He would use any excuse to beat the shit out of me and sometimes he didn't even have an excuse. He just did it for the hell of it. I finally couldn't take any more and I left. The night I left, I tried to hide inside the public restrooms at the park. That's where I met Jeff. It was right after Hunter hurt him."

"But why have you latched on to Jeff? I just don't understand that part."

She shrugged. "I don't know. He just looked so lost and I just felt compelled to take care of him."

Matt gave her a small smile. "Well I'm glad you did. You've gotten through to him more than I have over the past several years. I think deep down, he kind of resents me for the shit we went through as kids. I think he believes I didn't protect him enough from our dad."

"How bad was he?"

"Dad was the definition of monster. He terrorized both of us, but he really went after Jeff. He used to handcuff our hands behind our back, throw a towel over our heads and then beat the shit out of us with whatever he had with him. One time he filled a tub with ice water and just kept dunking Jeff's head in it over and over again. Another time, he strung me up and whipped all the skin off my back. I still have welt marks there from that incident. He literally left his mark on me. The happiest day of my life was the day he died."

"Was Jeff happy too?"

"I think he was relieved that the physical abuse was going to stop, but Dad did some pretty irreparable emotional and psychological damage to him. He's never come to terms with the fact that the abuse and Mom's suicide wasn't his fault. He doesn't get how selfish Mom was or how much it was Daddy who was the sick one. A lot of the time, I think he believes he deserved all the abuse."

Trish looked down at Jeff, who was starting to wake up and shake again. _I have to make him see that he doesn't need to blame himself anymore, _she said to herself. _The guilt is where all the pain is coming from. If I can help him do that, then the pain will disappear and he won't need to turn to the smack anymore._ Now she knew very well that plan was going to be easier said than done, but what the hell? She was willing to do anything to help Jeff at this point. She had to help him before it was too late to save him at all.


	11. Chapter 11

_"Boy where are you! You better come out here and take your medicine like a man!"_

_Jeff cowered under his bed fearfully. His dad was drunk and angry again. It was a combination that never ended well for anybody. He tried to stay as quiet and still as possible. He didn't want to be found at all. There was going to be a beating coming his way if he was found. _Please God, don't let me be found, don't let me be found_, he prayed over and over again._

_God was not listening though. God was never listening. Gil turned the bed over and grabbed Jeff by the scruff of the neck. "There you are you little shit," he growled. He picked his seven year old son up and tossed him across the room. Jeff bounced off the floor with a hard thud, and he started to cry._

_"Daddy please, I'm sorry, I'll be good," he begged, even though he knew it was useless. Nothing he said or did was going to matter at this point. His father was too angry to listen to his pleas._

_"Shut up! Just shut up you little shit!"_

_XXXXXX_

_His mother's body swung back and forth in front of him. All he did was come in to ask her what was for breakfast. That was all he wanted. But instead he found his mom hanging from the ceiling with a sheet tied around her neck. Her cold dead eyes just stared at him blankly. It was horrifying._

_His dad came in at that moment. "What the fuck did you do Jeff? What the fuck did you do?"_

_XXXXXXXXX_

_Memories of all men who had used him started flooding his brain. There was no way that he could remember every single one of them, but he was. He could feel their hands touching him and he could feel them thrusting into him. He felt so dirty and ashamed, but he couldn't tell them to stop. He had to let them do what they wanted to him to get the smack he so badly desired. It was the only thing that could take the pain away. It was the only thing that made him feel like he didn't want to die._

_XXXXXXX_

_He was laying on the floor, shivering and shaking like a leaf. It was dark, cold and wet and he was all alone. He was always alone. Nobody loved him enough to try to save him. He didn't deserved to be saved. That had been made perfectly clear to him over and over again over the years._

_Suddenly a white beam of light began shining down on him. He had to squint his eyes to see the beautiful angel coming down towards him. "Trish," he whispered. He reached his hand up to touch her. "Trish help me…"_

XXXXXX

Jeff woke up to find that his entire body was hurting. He was still going through the withdrawal, but at least he was somewhat awake and coherent. He took several deep breaths, wishing that this would all just stop. Trish was sleeping next to him, her arms draped tightly over his body. She looked so peaceful that he didn't want to wake her up, even though he desperately needed to hear her voice.

"Hey, sit up for a second. We need to get some water in you."

Jeff looked over and saw Matt sitting on the other side of him. "Matty…it hurts…"

"I know it does," Matt said. He helped Jeff sit up and get a drink of water. "I think we need to take you to the hospital. This is hitting you a lot harder than it hit me."

Jeff shook his head. "No please, I don't want to go to the hospital. I don't like doctors Matty. Please don't make me see the doctors."

Matt sighed. "I just want to make you better. I don't like seeing you like this."

The sincerity in his voice moved Jeff. "I know. Just stay with me. Don't leave me again."

"I won't," Matt assured him. He gently smoothed Jeff's red/purple/green hair down. "I should have never have left you alone out here in the first place. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking stupid."

Jeff shook his head. "No. You're the smart one. You always were. You tried to warn me about what I was doing, but I didn't listen." He took several deep breaths again. He felt so sick that he could hardly stand it. "Trish hasn't left me yet."

Matt managed a small smile. "I know she hasn't. She cares about you a lot. It doesn't take a genius to see that." He suddenly grew serious. "There's going to be serious trouble if her mom and Stephen find her before she turns eighteen."

"How do you know she's not eighteen now?"

"Let's just call it my sneaking suspicion. They've got legal rights to her you know. They could make her go back home with them if they really wanted to."

Jeff shook his head. "I won't let them take her away. They hurt her Matty. They hurt her real bad. We can't let them do that again."

"I'm not saying we won't try to make sure that doesn't happen. I'm just saying that--"

"No! Shut up! We're protecting her and that's final." Jeff suddenly began to cough and shake violently. It was hard for him to even catch a breath.

Trish woke up and looked at Jeff in concern. "Jeff? Jeff, are you okay? Say something honey."

Jeff couldn't say anything though. He had lost complete control of his body and he couldn't even cry out for help as he began to flop around wildly.

"That's it," Matt said. "Shannon! Help me!"

Shannon came running into the room. "What's going on?"

"We have to get him to the hospital," Matt said. "I can't sit here and watch him have seizures. He needs more help than I need to give him right now."

Jeff tried to tell Matt he was fine. This would stop soon enough. It could stop without the doctors and their needles and the hospital that reeked of death. But he couldn't get the words out. He just kept biting his tongue over and over again and soon he was drifting back towards the abyss of unconsciousness…


	12. Chapter 12

At the hospital, the doctors gave Jeff some stuff that would help with his withdrawal. Trish didn't understand exactly what it was, but it made the seizures stop and helped Jeff sleep easier, so she didn't care. She was just happy that they gave it to him. "I think those doctors want us to admit him to a clinic," she said quietly.

Matt sighed. "I know. I just don't think that's the best place for him right now though. I don't want him thinking that we're trying to get rid of him."

Amy nodded along. "That would be bad. That would just make him run away and then we might never be able to help him."

Shannon came into the room carrying a whole bunch of coffees. "I called Mickie and Randy," he said as he passed the drinks around. "They're going to come by soon and see him."

Trish smiled softly and took the sleeping Jeff's hand. "That's good. He needs to know a lot of people care about him."

"Aw, isn't that sweet? The little bitch really cares about poor Jeffey."

Everyone turned around and saw Hunter and Mark standing at the doorway. The two large men were giving them evil smirks. "Did we come at a bad time?" Mark asked.

Matt and Shannon stood up and placed themselves in front of Jeff's bed. "Get out of here," Matt growled. "You're not welcome here."

Hunter shook his head. "Oh calm down Matty. We're just here to check on Jeff. We heard the doctors talking among themselves. Quitting my smack has hit him pretty hard." If it was possible, his smirk became even more evil. "Of course, now the question is, how long will it be before he relapses? He is nothing more than a pathetic piece of shit. Do you all believe he's really going to quit for good?"

Trish leapt to her feet and tried to lunge at the blonde man. Matt and Shannon barely managed to hold her back. "You vile, evil, son of a bitch!" she snarled as she tried desperately to get free. Never before in her life did she want to take her fingernails and claw someone's eyes out. "You get out right now and just stay away from Jeff!"

"Or you'll do what?" Hunter asked. He looked amused that she was trying to come after him. "Let her go guys. Let's see what the little girl can do."

Trish broke free from Matt and Shannon's grips. She scowled at Hunter, who put his arms behind his back and gave her full access to his face. He was just begging for her to take the first shot. He didn't realize how serious she was about wanting to hurt him for hurting Jeff. Growling under her breath, she reared back her fist and punched him in the face as hard as she possibly could.

"Holy shit," Ashley said in amazement.

Hunter yelled in pain and actually backed up a few steps. "Fucking bitch!" he yelled. "You fucking broke my nose!" He tried to lunge at Trish, but she jumped out of the way and let him run into Matt and Shannon, who were more than willing to help beat the snot out of him. Trish started to go back so she could help them, but there was one person she had temporarily forgotten about: Mark.

He grabbed her arm and held it tightly. "So you're Jeff's protector now? Is that it? Well let's see you--"

Trish couldn't stand his voice. She really couldn't. It reminded her too much of Stephen's. And not only that, but he was really hurting her arm. Like really, really hurting her arm. So without really thinking about the possible consequences to her actions, she slapped him right across the face.

Everyone in the room froze. Matt, Shannon and Hunter stopped fighting. They looked like they couldn't believe what she had just done. Amy and Ashley gasped in shock. Hell, Trish couldn't believe she had just done that. It didn't help that she saw the look in Mark's eyes after the slap. She knew she had just fucked up big time. _Oh crap, oh crap, I shouldn't have done that. I really shouldn't have done that…_

Mark's grip went from her arm to right around her neck. He didn't say a word as he lifted her up into the air like she weighed nothing. Matt and Shannon tried to come to her aid, but Hunter tripped them and started doing anything he could to keep them down. A nurse came in and when she saw the predicament Trish was in, she started yelling for help.

Trish kicked her feet helplessly as she tried to pry Mark's fingers loose. She could barely breathe. In an act of desperation, she clawed at his eyes. This made him drop her down to the ground. She landed on her feet, but then fell over because she had no more strength in her body. She gasped for breath and looked up at Mark. The doctors and nurses were trying to get him and Hunter out of the room, but they weren't going to go easily.

"Get the fuck off me!" Mark yelled. He managed to get them out of the way and he kicked Matt right in the face so he could grab Trish by the hair and yank her back up to her feet. "You're going to die you little bitch," he hissed. "No matter where you go, I will find you. You can count on that. And when I do, you're going to wish you--"

"Mark!"

Mark looked up just in time for Jeff to smash the lamp over his head. The blow stunned the larger man enough to allow the doctors and nurses to drag him and Hunter out of the room.

Trish rubbed her neck with one hand and her hair with the other one. "Jeff…"

Jeff grabbed on to her and held her tightly. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She managed to nod. "Yeah. How much of that did you see?"

"The part where he grabbed you by the hair."

"So you missed the part where he choked me?"

Jeff's eyes darkened. "He choked you? Son of a bitch, I'm gonna--" He stopped as he tried to take a step forward. "Okay, dizzy…dizzy…head spinning…oh crap!"

Matt and Trish barely caught him before he hit the floor. "Shit, he passed out," Matt muttered. They carefully put him back into bed. "He definitely got up before he was supposed to."

Trish kissed Jeff on the forehead. "He got up to save me," she said quietly.

"You're lucky he managed to do that," Amy said. "But if Mark comes back for another round…"

"I'm screwed," Trish finished.

Ashley shook her head. "No, you're both screwed. He's not going to stop coming after Jeff just because he wants to hurt you too."

Matt nodded. "She's right. That's why we need to go abandon the helping Jeff get his life back on track at home and go to Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Shannon asked.

"We run away from the big scary Mark and help Jeff on the way," Matt answered. "I like it because it involves us not dying."

Trish nodded. "It sounds good to me. I like not dying. Life is much better than death."

"It's better than being horribly murdered anyway," Jeff mumbled. He was starting to wake up again. "Murder bad. Running good."

"Okay, it's official," Amy said. "As soon as Jeff is released from the hospital, we run the hell away from Mark."


	13. Chapter 13

Jeff knew that he needed to stay in the hospital for awhile to get the help he truly needed. He had a long way to go before he was considered well by any stretch of the imagination. But there was simply no time to wait that long. The threat Mark and Hunter posed was too great to just sit around and wait for them to decide to attack again. Jeff knew they would be after blood the next time they came around, especially when it came to Trish. If they got their hands on her, then that would be it for her. They would kill her and they would enjoy doing it. Jeff knew them too well to expect anything else from them.

The day Jeff checked himself out of the hospital, Matt, Trish, Mickie, Randy, Shannon, Ashley and Amy were there with him every step of the way. They had gathered up as much money as they possibly could, but they were still going to need help if they wanted to really get out of this mess.

"What are we going to do?" Randy asked as they headed to the exit. Even though he and Mickie had not been there during the incident at the hospital room, they were still in just as much danger as anyone else. Hunter and Mark knew damn well they were friends with Jeff and them, so staying put would lead to them having huge targets painted right on their back. "Our money isn't going to get us as far as we need to go and only you have a car Matt."

Matt nodded. "I know. That's why I got some help."

Jeff was about to ask who that help was, but he got his answer as soon as they walked outside. Phil was out there, waiting for them in his van. With him were his right hand men Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne. "Alright, let's hurry up people," Phil said. He opened up the doors so they could all climb into the back of the van. "We have to get going people. You've got two crazy people to hide from and we have weapons to deliver."

Jeff helped Trish get into the van before getting in himself. "How did you get him to agree to do this?" he whispered out of curiosity. The last time he checked, he had definitely not been at the top of Phil's list of favorite people.

"Let's just say he owed me a favor," Matt said cryptically. "He's going to get us as far as Chicago and he'll set us up in some apartments there and give us some cash while we're at it. What we do from there is entirely up to us."

"Damn, you're taking us all the way to Chicago Phil?" Shannon asked as Phil started to drive. "You must owe Matt one hell of a favor."

Phil nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

"What's the favor?" Jeff asked.

Matt shook his head. "It's nothing you need to worry about. It had something to do with a bit of trouble we got into a few years back."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Just trouble."

Jeff frowned. He did not like the way Matt was avoiding the question. "You can tell me you know. I'm not a little kid anymore."

Trish put her hand of Jeff's thigh. "Jeff just drop it for now."

He looked at her in surprise. "I just want to know why Phil's doing this. He hates me."

"I've never hated you Jeff," Phil corrected. "I just hated the crap that you did."

"But now that you're off the smack, I'm sure you two will become the best of friends," Kofi said with a grin.

Evan snorted. "Yeah, let's not go that far."

"Well I was being sarcastic."

"Really? It sounded like your regular voice."

"Yeah I know. I get that a lot."

Jeff dropped the subject, but not because he wanted to. He just saw that Matt was looking kind of upset about the subject and he decided not to talk about it anymore. Instead he rested his head against Trish's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Are you as scared as I am?"

"Fuck, I'm terrified. I'm one fuck up away from a relapse. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Maybe I can't do this."

"Yes you can Jeff," Trish said immediately. "You can do this as long as you keep really wanting it badly enough. You just have to keep holding on."

"Yeah," Ashley added. She gave him a reassuring grin. "We're not going to let you go back to that shit. We can't lose you again buddy."

"Chicago's got several rehabs all through it," Phil said. "You can stay in a facility for thirty to sixty days, or you can go in for out patient treatment."

Jeff nodded. "Yeah, maybe I need to look into that. Assuming we get to Chicago in one piece."

Mickie gulped. "Do you think Hunter and Mark are going to find us?"

Jeff's eyes darkened. He exchanged looks with Matt. His older brother looked just as worried as he did. "I know how they both are," he said quietly. "They're going to do their best to find us."

"But can they do it?" Evan asked. "They don't know we're helping you."

"Yeah," Trish added. "Do you think they could find us even though they don't know where we're going?"

Jeff sighed. "All I'm saying is…be afraid. Be very, very afraid."

And little did he know at the time, his words held more truth to them than even he knew.


	14. Chapter 14

Phil got them set up in four apartments all next door to each other. Trish was impressed by the guy's connections, although Jeff and Matt seemed a little uneasy. Of course, since they knew Mark and Hunter better than the others, the probably had every right to be. All she really cared about at this point was staying safe and making sure Jeff stayed clean.

A few days after they arrived, Jeff surprised everyone by refusing to even go to a clinic as an outpatient. He said he wanted to just help himself. Everyone had tried to find out why, but nobody could get a real answer out of him. The others feared that he wanted to relapse, but Trish was sensing a much deeper problem. That was why she had everyone else leave the apartment she was sharing with Jeff. She wanted to talk to him all alone.

She watched him carefully as he kept snapping a rubber band against his wrist over and over again. He seemed to be very, very agitated. "Are you okay?" she asked.

He just shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

She sighed and sat down next to him. "Come on Jeff, you can tell me if something's wrong. I'm not going to freak out like everyone else."

He looked down at his wrist. "I don't want to go to a clinic."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk to a therapist. They'll ask about my childhood and I don't want to tell them all that."

Trish looked at him sympathetically. "You don't think getting all of that will help any?"

Jeff snorted. "I don't want to talk to some fucking stranger about the shit my dad put me through. I tried that once. It was a few months after Dad passed away and about a week before I started living out on the streets too. Matt was a junkie back then so I was in foster care. They made me see a therapist and he was such a prick to me. All the questions he kept asking me made me feel like he was trying to get me to admit that it was my fault Dad abused the fuck out of me."

She winced. She knew how badly that sucked. After her mom had married Stephen, she had talked to a guidance counselor about how much she hated her step dad, and the woman had basically told her she wasn't giving the asshole a fair chance. Dumb bitch. "Well screw him. He didn't know what he was talking about."

Jeff almost smiled but he couldn't quite manage that. "Mark used to beat me up when I was a kid too. You know, when he wasn't in jail or busy with his gang stuff. One time they both beat me up so badly that I was in the hospital for a week. I was so badly injured that the doctors actually believed the car wreck excuse." He twisted the rubber band around with his fingers. "I wish I could feel safe, but I can't. I'm afraid all the time."

"What are you afraid of?" Trish asked. She was hoping if she could make him get some of this stuff off of his chest, he would at least feel a little bit better.

"I'm afraid Mark's going to kill you," he confessed. "And that I won't be able to do anything to stop him. It wouldn't be so bad if he was just after me, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you. And I'm afraid of what Hunter's going to do if he gets me." He gave her a serious look. "A few years ago, I ran into Hunter when I was high and I did something stupid to piss him off. And he literally dragged me to his place and injected me with all of the purest heroin he had. He made me overdose on purpose. If Stephanie hadn't found me and called 911..."

Trish shuddered. That little detail now had her freaking out. In fact, she was less concerned about Mark killing her than she was about Hunter injecting Jeff with heroin. "We're not going to let them get to us," she told him. "Do you understand me? We're not going to let them find us."

Jeff shook his head. "I've never been able to hide from Mark for long. He's going to get me."

She sighed and pulled him into her arms. She wanted to find the words that would take away his fears, but none sprang into her mind. So she just held him tightly, not wanting to let go ever again.

There was some movement outside the front door. Randy and Matt were back from the grocery store, and their conversation could be heard from where Trish and Jeff were sitting.

"I don't get it," Randy said. "How the hell did Phil get us a place like this? I mean, I know the guy's connected, but come on! This place is like ten times better than our old dump."

"Well I always told Phil that when I wanted my favor cashed in, I was going to want a hell of a lot from him," Matt replied. "The mother fucking bastard got me shot when I was doing a favor for him. This was the absolute LEAST he could do.

Jeff sat up so fast that it startled Trish. "What?" he yelled. He got to his feet and opened the door. "What did you just say Matt?"

Matt froze. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Oh shit."

"You got shot? When did you get shot? Why didn't you fucking tell me you got shot?" The volume of Jeff's voice just kept getting louder and louder.

Trish got up and tried to comfort the man. "Jeff--"

Matt sighed. "Phil needed a temporary backup guy after his man Elijah Burke got killed. It was only going to be a couple of time thing until he got somebody permanent. But the first night I went with him, things went wrong and I got shot. But I was taken to the hospital and I managed not to die."

Jeff glared at his older brother. "But why didn't you tell me? I'm your brother!"

"It was when we weren't speaking, okay?" Matt shook his head. "Back then, I knew you wished I was dead, and I was afraid you were actually going to be unhappy that I managed to live."

Trish winced at the look on Jeff's face. It looked like he had been slapped across the face. She tried to reach out for him, but he turned around walked away. A half a minute later, they could all hear his bedroom door slamming shut.

Randy sighed. "So Jeff will probably NOT be in the Cinco de Mayo spirit now." He slapped Matt on the back. "Way to make things worse Hardy. I'm sure that was exactly what he needed."

"Fuck off Randy," Matt said.

Trish sighed as she watched Matt chase after Jeff. Hopefully Matt would be able to fix things with Jeff. There was only so much she could do on her own after all. "Fuck I need a drink," she muttered.

Randy held up the bag he was holding. "Well today's your lucky day honey, because I have enough booze here to kill an elephant."

She frowned. "What?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, just go with it, okay?"

"Okay. You're really weird though. I think you should know that."

"Yeah, well, I choose to take that as a compliment."


	15. Chapter 15

Jeff refused to look at Matt as he came into the room without knocking. He didn't want to talk to his older brother right now. What could possibly be said that would make any of this better? Being reminded of how selfish he had used to be had been a bigger blow than he really needed right now.

Matt sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed. "Come on Jeff, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. You were right, I should have told you. We can't keep stuff from each other anymore. Somebody always gets hurt when we do that."

"I was so fucking selfish back then," Jeff muttered. It was more to himself than it was to Matt. "I get why you didn't want to put up with me back then. I didn't get it then, but I get it now."

"Jeff no, that's not right," Matt said. He was shaking his head vehemently. "If anyone was selfish, it was me. I was a mess when you needed me the most, and I was so focused on myself that I let you go down the same destructive path that I did. You were just a kid and you got lost in all that street life bullshit."

"You tried to help me though."

"But I never really tried hard enough. There was a part of me that really believed you were a lost cause, and I should have never even let that thought cross into my mind." Matt sighed. "I'm the asshole here Jeff. I was the selfish one. I just hope you can forgive me."

Jeff looked at his brother. There was a lot of baggage between them and they had a lot of shit to work through. But he could tell by Matt's eyes that he truly wanted to fix things. "I'm afraid Matty," he confessed.

Matt nodded. "I know you are. I am too. Mark and Hunter are mean bastards." He ran his hand through his hair. "They're fucking mean as hell, and I don't want to think about what's going to happen if they find us." He shook his head. "So what about you and Trish? What's going on between you two?"

Jeff ducked himself. His face turned a deep shade of red. "I like her," he admitted.

"Well we all knew that," Matt said in exasperation. "But have you two done anything yet?"

"We kissed."

"And?"

"Matt!"

"What? I'm your brother. I'm allowed to hear dirty details."

"No you're not!" Jeff's face was redder than ever. "We haven't done anything but kiss."

"Do you want to do more?"

"Yeah."

"Have you asked her if she wants to?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how!" Jeff gave Matt a desperate look. "I don't know what to do around girls! I was a prostitute for guys! I don't know how to seduce a girl!"

Matt laughed. "Believe me Jeff, if she really wants you, there won't be much seducing involved. If you really want to, you just need to get some alone time with her and let things happen. But if she does say no, it doesn't automatically she'll never want to. She's real young, so there's a chance she just won't be ready yet."

Jeff chewed on his lower lip. He had never thought he would be getting girl advice from his older brother. "Okay, but how do I get alone time with her?"

That question was answered a minute later, when Randy led Trish into the room. "I think we should leave the love birds alone for a minute," Randy said as he pushed Trish on to Jeff's lap. "Come on Matt, let's do some drinking."

Jeff watched Randy drag Matt out of the room. "What the hell was that about?" he asked as the door shut behind them.

Trish shook her head. "Mickie came over and started telling me about a dream she had last night. And then I told her about a dream I had and Randy overheard it."

"What was the dream about?"

She blushed. "It was about me and you. We were uh…you know…we uh…"

His eyes widened as he caught on to what she was not saying. "Oh! Uh…wow. Um…I have no idea what to do now."

Matt came back in and handed Jeff a condom. "Just in case," he said as he looked at Jeff's face. "Pregnancy scares suck." With that statement, he left the room.

Jeff stared at the condom and then looked at Trish, who was giggling like crazy. "This is not funny."

"Oh yes it is," she said. She laid him back on the bed and ripped the condom wrapper open with her teeth. "I've never done this before so I'm sorry in advance if this sucks."

"Well I've never done this with a girl, so it's not like I'm going to be much better at it," Jeff replied. He kissed her softly. "I love you."

She smiled at him. "I love you too."

XXXXXXX

Mark glared at his associate John Bradshaw Layfield, or JBL for short. "Are you sure your men got this information right?" he growled. He hated being led on wild goose chases. They tended to make him very angry.

JBL nodded. "I've had my men following Phil for awhile now for one of my own personal deals. They saw him picking up Jeff and his little buddies from the hospital and they followed them to Chicago. That's where they should still be now."

"Should still be?"

"Mark, I'm interested in Phil's whereabouts, not Jeff Hardy and his blonde slut's location," JBL replied. "Chicago is the last place they are known to be in. It's as simple as that."

Mark looked at Hunter. "What do you think?"

Hunter grinned. "I think we should get going. We don't have much time to waste after all."

Mark nodded. "Alright then, let's get a move on then. I've got a Jeff to hurt and a bitch to kill."


	16. Chapter 16

The gunfire only lasted a few short minutes. It was never as long and as drawn out as movies made that kind of thing out to be. Phil knew that from personal experience. But of course, that didn't make these shootouts any less dangerous. Silently praying for his own safety, he peeked out from his hiding spot and shot at his target: JBL.

The bullet hit JBL on the arm, causing the older man to drop the gun. All gunfire stopped at this point, because JBL's goons were either dead or wounded at this point. In fact, the only people left standing were Phil, Kofi and Evan. Now Phil would normally stop to assess the damage that was done to his boys at this point, but he didn't have time for that at the moment. He had an asshole to interrogate.

"Come here you son of a bitch," he growled as he intentionally stepped on JBL's wound. "We found out about your boys following us to Chicago. We know they told you what they saw. Did you fucking tell anyone?"

JBL spat on Phil. "I'm not fucking telling you anything."

Phil wiped the spittle away and viciously kicked JBL three times. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kofi and Evan wincing, but there was no time to be delicate about this. JBL had had ties with Mark and Hunter in the past and he wouldn't be above telling them where Jeff was. "Come on Bradshaw, don't fucking get cute with me," he snarled. "You can die slowly or you can die quickly. It's up to you."

JBL shook his head. "It doesn't matter how you kill me Punk. Jeff Hardy and his little friends will be dead soon enough."

_Shit, he probably did tell Mark and Hunter_. Phil raised his gun again and shot JBL right in the head with it, effectively ending a war that had been all about respect (or as JBL believed, a lack of it). "Kofi…"

"What do we do boss?" Kofi asked. He and Evan came to stand by Phil's side. "There's no way we can get to Chicago in time to help Jeff and them."

Phil knew that. Knowing Mark and Hunter, they were probably already there. "Call Cactus and his crew," he told Kofi. "Tell them to find Mark and Hunter and get rid of them by any means necessary." He took out his own phone and started dialing Matt's phone number.

"Who the hell is Cactus?" Evan asked.

"Cactus Jack is an old friend of mine," Phil answered as he waited for Matt to answer his phone. "And he's the only man alive that I know who can scare the shit out of both Mark and Hunter. He's that fucking crazy." He sighed as Matt finally answered his phone. "Hey it's Phil. We've got a serious problem on our hands…"

XXXXXXXXX

Matt hung up the phone and groaned. He had just finished talking to Phil and he had not liked what he had just been told. He did not like it at all. "Amy!" he yelled as he came out of their bedroom. "Amy!"

Amy, who had been in the kitchen, came to meet up with him. "What's wrong honey?" she asked.

"Mark and Hunter found out where we are," he told her. He was pretty much panicking at this point. And who could blame him? He had every reason in the world to panic. "Phil's putting a hit on them right now, but there's not telling how well that will work." He grabbed his car keys and started dragging Amy towards the front door. "Where's Jeff?"

"I don't know!" Amy told him. She looked and sounded really scared now. "He just told me that he and Trish were going out for a walk. He never said where they were going."

Matt cursed under his breath. He needed to find them both right away because they were the ones Mark and Hunter were really after. If they fell into the clutches of Mark and Hunter, then it didn't matter who was out to perform the hit that Phil was setting up. Jeff and Trish were so dead if they got caught. _Please God, let me find them in time. Let me find them before something bad happens…_

XXXXXXX

Trish giggled as Jeff lost the rock he had been kicking around for the last four blocks. They had been out just walking around, exploring the city and eating ice cream when Jeff had found a small white rock to kick around. With a determination that she had never seen out of him before, he had started kicking it like a soccer ball, only now he had lost it in the grass.

"This is not funny!" he scolded as she kept giggling. "I can't find it!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She tried to get herself under control, but she was failing miserably.

He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, you're supposed to be a nice girl. How is laughing at me nice?"

"I'm not laughing at you. You're just cute when you pout."

That made him grin. "Really?"

She nodded and gave him a kiss. "You're VERY cute no matter what you do."

"Aw, now that's just too cute. God, you guys are just so sweet together."

Trish and Jeff spun around to find Hunter standing behind them. The blonde man had a huge smirk on his face. "I'm disappointed that you two let your guard down," he said as he shook his head. "You shouldn't have done that. You two should have really known better."

Jeff placed himself in front of Trish. "Stay away from us," he snarled, although he didn't sound near as ferocious as he tried to be.

Hunter just laughed. "Why would we stay away from you? We've been waiting to do this for far too long?"

Trish gasped as she felt a barrel of a gun being pressed up against her back. It took her all of about two seconds to figure out who was possibly holding that gun. And she did not like it. She did not like it at all. "Jeff…" she whispered. She was too scared to even look back at who was behind her.

"I'd be very careful if I were you Jeff," Mark growled. He cocked the gun that was still pointed at Trish. "You wouldn't want my finger to slip, now would you?"

Jeff gulped and looked between Mark and Hunter. He looked like he had no idea about what to do. "What do you want?" he finally asked.

Mark grinned. "You two are going to come with us nice and peacefully. The four of us are going to go have a talk somewhere nice and private. You don't want our conversation to be interrupted, now do you?"

Trish felt a sick feeling creep into her stomach. They were so beyond screwed that it wasn't even funny. They were going to get killed and she honestly did not see how they were possibly going to escape this time. _Just let it be quick. Oh God, just let it be quick and not hurt too much…_


	17. Chapter 17

"Matt can't find them anywhere Cactus. I think Mark and Hunter already have them. Please tell me you're somewhat close to finding them."

Cactus didn't say anything. He was currently driving around Chicago, with a destination only known by him. Of course he knew where Mark and Hunter would take the two kids they had kidnapped. He wasn't stupid. He knew Callaway and Helmsley better than anyone else in the world. They had tried to screw with him over and over again over the years, and it was always over something stupid. It was pride: it was like taking him out was a badge of honor or something. Well being attacked over and over again had turned Cactus into a very mean boy, and he planned on ending this once and for all.

"Cactus!" Phil yelled angrily. He was on speaker phone at the moment, so everyone in the car could hear his frustration.

"He knows where to go," Cactus's friend Tommy Dreamer said. He and Jim Fullington, a.k.a., Sandman, were exchanging looks at the moment. "He's just not in a talkative mood at the moment."

"Hey, if the two fucking kids aren't dead when we get to them, where the fuck do we take them?" Sandman asked. He was drinking a beer, just like usual.

Cactus tuned out the conversation as Phil gave them Matt's address. He would have Tommy and Sandman worry about the kids. Right now, he was going to focus on doing something he should have done years ago.

Mark and Hunter were fucking dead when he got his hands on them.

XXXXXXXX

"Phil said to stay at the apartment honey," Amy repeated for the thousandth time as she chased after Matt. "We don't even know where to look for them!"

Matt knew that, but he didn't care. He was too desperate to really listen to anyone at the moment. Mark and Hunter had Trish and Jeff. He just knew it. Neither of them were answering their phones and they weren't anywhere to be found. "I can't just sit at home Amy!" he said in frustration. "Maybe the others can, but I can't!"

"Matt please--"

"He's my brother," Matt interrupted.

Amy paused. "I know he is Matt."

"Then please understand why I need to look for him. I've abandoned him when he's needed me the most before, and I don't want to do that again. Not now, not ever."

"I know you don't," she said gently. "But we do not know where to find them, and we do not know how we could possibly get them away from Mark and Hunter without getting killed."

He knew that she was just pleading with him to be smart, but he couldn't do that. There was no time to be smart and cautious. Jeff and Trish were in serious trouble, and he didn't even know this Cactus Jack who was supposed to be saving them. He knew Phil was doing all he could to help, but how was he supposed to trust someone he had never met to get his brother and his girlfriend back?

The answer was simple: he didn't. Not completely anyway. As dumb as it could possibly be, he needed to try to find Jeff and Trish himself. "You need to go back to the apartments," he told Amy. "I don't want you getting in the middle of this."

Amy shook her head. "No way. I'm not leaving you to go after the two nut jobs on your own."

"Amy--"

"No! There is absolutely no way I'm letting that happen. You either just let me come along, or you drag me back to the apartment yourself. And we don't have that kind of time." Her expression softened. "Jeff and Trish don't have that kind of time."

Matt sighed. He knew that she wasn't going to budge on the matter, and he didn't have time to argue with her. "Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand. "Let's keep looking. The sooner we get to them, the better."

XXXXXXXX

Trish's entire body was racked with pain. Her face was swelling in several places already and her eyebrow was busted open all from Mark's fists. Several of her ribs felt like they were cracked at the very least, but she wouldn't be surprised if some were broken. She took several deep breaths in an effort to regain her composure, even though every breath she took hurt like hell. The hell had been beaten out of her, but she wasn't dead. Not yet anyway.

Jeff was in worse shape than she was. Hunter had been having fun beating him with a spiked biker chain for the past several minutes, although he was taking a little break to look for something over in the corner of the warehouse. "Jeff," Trish said weakly. She tried to crawl over to him, but a swift kick to her ribs stopped her in her tracks.

"Did I fucking say you could move bitch?" Mark growled. He grabbed her by the legs and dragged her roughly even farther away from Jeff. "Nobody said you could fucking go over to your little boyfriend." An evil smirk formed on his face. "Although if you want to bargain with me, I bet that pretty little mouth of yours could be put to good use."

"You're fucking disgusting!" Trish spat out.

That was probably not a good thing to say, because the next thing she knew, she was being lifted off the ground by her hair. "Now that's just rude," Mark informed her. He tossed her into the wall, making her head bounce off it before she fell to the ground. The blow stunned the hell out of her, and knocked her loopy for several minutes. When she finally regained her bearings, she saw that Jeff was being hung upside down from a chain that was hanging from the ceiling. "Stop," she managed to gasp out. "Don't hurt him."

"What, you mean like this?" Hunter asked. He picked up a baseball bat and hit Jeff as hard as he could with it, earning a loud shout of pain from the younger man.

Trish closed her eyes and flinched at Jeff's whimpers. He couldn't even defend himself from the assholes who were doing this to him. "Please…"

"What are you willing to do for us Trish?" Mark asked. "How far are you willing to go to save the boy?"

"I'll do--" Her response was cut off by the lights going out completely.

"Damn it!" Hunter yelled. He could be heard trying to go over to the fuse box. "What the fuck is going--"

A car came crashing through the doors and the bright sunlight flooded the warehouse. Trish shut her eyes from the shock, but opened them again when she heard Hunter screaming. To her surprise, she found that the car had hit Hunter and it was now pinning him up against the wall.

"What the fuck?" Mark yelled as a deranged looking bearded man got out of the car. "Cactus!"

"Mark," Cactus growled. He shot Mark twice, both bullets going into the bastard's head. "Bang bang, you fucking asshole!"

Trish could hardly comprehend what was going on. She tried to crawl over to Jeff again, but her head hurt so bad that she had to stop moving. Her world was spinning and turning black. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Jeff saying her name and somebody else saying they were safe and they were going to be alright.


	18. Chapter 18

Jeff knew he was in a hospital before he even got his eyes completely open. There was no mistaking the smell or the beeping sound of the monitors. He grunted and groaned in pain as he opened his eyes, remembering everything that had happened. Hunter and Mark had found him and Trish…they had hurt them…then somebody had rescued them. Actually it had looked to be about three somebodys. He just didn't know who the hell they were because he had passed out before he could find out.

Matt immediately hugged him as soon as his eyes were completely open. "Oh God Jeff, I am so sorry. This was not supposed to have happened. I didn't know they had found out where we were until after you and Trish had left."

Jeff tried to sit up but stopped because it hurt too much to do it. "Where's Trish?" he asked. "Where is she? Is she okay?"

Matt pointed to the bed next to them. "She's sleeping right now. She's beat up pretty badly, but she'll be okay. The doctors just really had to fix her nose and cheekbones because Mark and Hunter shattered both of them."

"Bastards," Jeff growled. He had never felt so angry at anyone in his life. "Did they survive whoever saved us?"

Matt shook his head. "No they're both dead. There was a few minutes that we thought Hunter was going to live, but the car he got hit with damaged his insides too badly and he died. Which honestly, I'm glad he did. Jail would be too good for him. He deserves to rot in hell for everything he's done."

Jeff couldn't agree more. He tried to sit up again, only this time he was successful. "Matt help me out of bed," he said. "I want to sit right next to Trish."

"Come on bro, the doctors--"

"Fuck the damn doctors! I want to be closer to her." Jeff gave Matt his puppy dog eyes. "Please Matty? For me?"

Matt sighed. His resolve was easily crumbling. "Okay, but you are dealing with the doctors if they get pissed. Deal?"

"Deal," Jeff said with a nod of his head. He wrapped his arms around Matt's neck and let himself be picked up, trying to keep the whimpers and groans of pains to a minimum. The pain would pass soon enough.

"There you go," he said as he sat Jeff down on the chair right beside Trish's bed. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"A Mountain Dew," Jeff said immediately. He didn't actually want one that badly, but he wanted some alone time with Trish.

Matt nodded. "Okay, I'll be right back with it."

Jeff took Trish's hand as Matt left. He kissed it gently, marveling about how soft her skin was. "I'm sorry baby," he whispered. "You should have never been dragged into this mess."

Trish began to stir slowly. "Jeff," she called out in a faint and raspy voice. "Jeff."

He started hanging on to her hand even more tightly. "I'm right here," he assured her. "I'm here for you baby."

She opened her eyes and looked over at him. Even with her face completely swollen up, she was still the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. "You're okay," she said. It looked like she was trying to smile. "Oh God Jeff, I was so scared."

He nodded. "I was too." He gently smoothed down her hair. "But we're safe now. Nobody's going to hurt us anymore."

"That's good." Trish sighed and began tracing her fingers up and down Jeff's arm. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I know Matt's getting me a Mountain Dew right now. The others might have gone to get something to eat or maybe went to go get some sleep or something like that. Matt and I didn't really talk about them."

"Oh." Trish was silent for a moment before she tried to grin at him again. "You want to know something? Next week's my birthday. That means I won't have to worry about having to be forced to go back home if Mom or Stephen find me."

Jeff eyes widened. "Your birthday is next week? Shit! You could have told me sooner. Jesus, how am I supposed to find you a birthday present in one week?"

"You don't need to get me anything," she tried to tell him. "I'm okay with just having you."

"But I want to get you something," he insisted. "I'll feel bad if you don't."

"Oh fine. Get me something then. But Jeff, please don't tell the others about my birthday. I don't want them to feel like they need to make a big deal about it."

"Okay," he said. He kissed her gently. "I promise I won't tell them."

XXXXXXXXXX

_One week later_

"Why do you have that look on your face?" Trish asked as they approached their apartment. They were just getting back from setting up their enrollment in night classes. Their current plan was to get their GED and then they would go to the local community college together. They had also gone out to pizza since it was now Trish's birthday.

Jeff just looked at her apologetically as she unlocked their apartment door. "Well here's the thing: Matt kind of caught me picking out your birthday present and he kind of made me tell him about your birthday."

She raised her eyebrow. "He made you tell him?"

"Well he bribed me with Skittles…" He shook his head defensively. "Damn it Trish, I'm only human! And Skittles are my favorite! I had to tell him!" He stuck out his lower lip and pouted. He was really hoping she wouldn't be upset by the party that was waiting for her inside their home. "Forgive me?"

She just grinned. "Always." She kissed him, squealing happily as he dipped her almost all the way back.

"Would you two get in here?" Randy said as he opened the door. "Amy won't let me have cake until we open presents."

Jeff broke the kiss and set Trish back up on her feet. "Why are we doing presents first? I thought cake was first."

"It was until Ashley and Mickie found your present. Now they can't leave it alone."

Trish frowned. "They're playing with my present?"

"Yeah, it likes them for some reason. It bit me on the leg and made me bleed."

Jeff rolled his eyes and led Trish into the apartment. Almost immediately, they found Mickie and Ashley playing with the Jack Russell Terrier that Jeff had bought very early this morning. He had bought him from a family that was moving and couldn't take him with them. "His name is Jack," he told her. "I thought you would like him."

"I do!" Trish said happily. She picked up Jack and hugged him tightly. Jack immediately started licking her face. "Oh Jeff, he's perfect." She walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "I love him."

"Thank God, because I wasn't going to know what to do with him if you didn't," Jeff said. He petted Jack on the head. This felt right to him. He, Trish and Jack--the three of them together as their own little family.

"Trish would you open the rest of the fucking gifts so I can eat the damn cake?" Randy shouted.

Shannon rolled his eyes. "Amy, just let him have a piece of cake. He's never going to shut up until we let him have some."

"Okay fine," Amy said angrily. "Randy, you can have one piece of cake while Trish opens presents."

"And ice cream?"

"Yes you dumbass! You can have ice cream too!"

Jeff and Trish could hear that argument going on, but they were pretty much ignoring it. "How did I get so lucky to find you?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I've asked myself that question about you a few times, and I've come to the conclusion that I don't need an answer. I'm just glad I have you."

He grinned. He felt the same way about her. "I love you."

"I love you too." She kissed him one more time before pulling him to the couch. "Now come on. I want to open the rest of my presents before Randy eats all my cake."

"I won't let him do that. I'm not good at much, but I can protect a cake like a mother fucker."

"Aw, my hero."

"Damn straight. You saved my life so I'll save your cake." And her life if he needed to, but she already knew that. She knew him better than anyone else, and he was content to spend the rest of his life with her, however long or short that would be.


End file.
